Federal judge denies Waukesha School District's motion to dismiss former teacher Melissa Tempel's lawsuit

A federal judge has denied the Waukesha School District's motion to dismiss a lawsuit that former district teacher Melissa Tempel filed against it.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph made the ruling Dec. 20, just over a month after Tempel's attorney, Summer Murshid, filed a response Nov. 17 asking the court to deny the district's motion.

Tempel filed the lawsuit Sept. 5 claiming the district violated her First Amendment rights after she was fired from her job in July as a first-grade dual language teacher at Heyer Elementary School. She said the firing is retaliation for her criticism of the district's decision on her X (Twitter) account to not allow the song "Rainbowland" to be performed at a first-grade concert.

"We are, of course, very pleased with the Court’s denial of the District’s Motion to Dismiss," Murshid wrote in an email to a reporter. "The Court found that Ms. Tempel’s complaint sufficiently states claims against both the District and Dr. Sebert. As such, we look forward to litigating the merits of this case and getting to the heart of Ms. Tempel’s First Amendment claims."

Waukesha School District superintendent Jim Sebert did not immediately reply to a phone or email message seeking comment. Attorneys for the school district, Christina Katt and Joel Aziere, were not immediately available and have not responded to phone messages.

Here's what to know about the latest development in the case.

Judge disputes district argument that Tempel does not have First Amendment claim

In her ruling, Joseph said she disagreed with the district's claim that Tempel's lawsuit does not support a First Amendment claim and that Tempel did not have a claim against Sebert individually.

Joseph did not accept the district's argument that Tempel did not demonstrate she was speaking as a private citizen rather than an employee of the district.

She ruled that Tempel's complaint sufficiently argues that she was speaking as a private citizen since she did not use her personal Twitter account "or any other social media account" in her official duties as a teacher and that she sent the tweet after school hours. Tempel additionally stated that the interviews she gave to news outlets about the "Rainbowland" decision were away from district grounds and during her personal time, including during the district's spring break.

Judge says Tempel's complaint 'sufficiently alleges' her actions are protected by First Amendment

Joseph said Tempel's complaint successfully alleges that the issue Tempel raised was not just about herself and disagreed with the district's argument to the contrary.

"The complaint sufficiently alleges that this issue was not unique to Tempel, and the facts, as pled, do not indicate that the situation was simply a personal gripe between employer and employee. For these reasons, Tempel’s complaint sufficiently alleges that she engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment," Joseph's ruling said.

Judge questions whether it was Tempel's tweet or the school district's policy that caused disruption

Joseph also disagreed with the district's argument that Tempel's speech disrupted its education services. She said Tempel viewed things differently, seeing the dispute as arising "in the context of tremendous public disapproval ... of board policy and how it affected LGBTQ+ students." The policy Joseph referred to is the district's "controversial issues" policy, which bans anything controversial from entering classrooms.

She added that the facts and issues "will need to be fleshed out in discovery and presented to the Court for weighing at a later date. As such, dismissal is not appropriate at this juncture."

Judge disagreed with district's argument that Tempel was fired for the method of speech, not speech itself

Joseph also disagreed with the district's argument that Sebert's recommendation letter shows that Tempel was fired because of the method she chose for her disagreement, not because of her speech.

"Tempel, however, alleges that the true reason underlying the termination decision was retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights. Tempel alleges facts showing the investigation and termination recommendation came on the heels of the tweet at issue," Joseph wrote in her ruling. "Thus, Tempel alleges sufficient facts, including the context and timing of her termination, to sufficiently allege that her First Amendment activity was a motivating factor in her termination."

Judge also disagreed that Sebert cannot be held responsible for Tempel's firing

The district argued that Tempel cannot establish a "causal connection" between Sebert and her termination, since the school board made the decision to fire her and that Sebert is "entitled to qualified immunity."

Joseph disagreed, saying Sebert had the authority to order the investigation and "offer a recommendation that was considered and adopted" by the school board.

"It is therefore difficult to find that these facts as pled do not sufficiently demonstrate that Dr. Sebert’s actions were related 'in some way to the performance of the duties of the state office,'" Joseph wrote.Joseph also rejected the district's argument that Sebert "is entitled to qualified immunity," saying that "Tempel’s complaint alleges a violation of a constitutional right and this right was clearly established at the time of Defendants’ actions."

What are the next steps in the process?

No future court hearing has been set yet, according to online records.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Judge denies Waukesha Schools motion to dismiss lawsuit against it